Liberty Korea Party

The Liberty Korea Party, formerly known as the Saenuri Party, is a conservative political party in South Korea. The party was formed by a merger of the New Korea Party and other center-right parties, and it had its roots in the authoritarian Democratic Republican Party of South Korea; it was originally known as the Hannara Party. In 2007, the party left opposition for the first time, when Lee Myung-bak was elected President of South Korea. In 2008, the party won 153/299 seats, gaining power in the administration, parliament, and most local governments. The traditionalist elite and the conservative rural population were the party's biggest supporters, and it supported free trade and neoliberalism. The party supported close alliances to the United States and Japan, and the party also adhered to social conservative policies such as opposing same-sex couples. In 2012, the party changed its name to Saenuri (its colloquial name), and it changed its name to the Liberty Korea Party on 13 February 2017. In 2016, the party's leader Park Geun-hye was discovered to have been involved in corruption, leading to her impeachment and the splintering of the Bareun Party from the Saenuri Party. The rival Democratic Party of Korea proceeded to take over the government.